Division
of Criminal Justice Charges Eight Individuals
with Illegally Collecting More than $119,700
in Unemployment BenefitsAtlantic City Board
of Education Security Guard Among Those Indicted....

TRENTON
– Division of Criminal Justice Director
Vaughn L. McKoy announced that the Major
Financial Crimes Bureau has charged eight
individuals with illegally collecting
more than $119,700 in Unemployment Insurance
(UI) benefits. The prosecutions result
from a cooperative investigative effort
by the Department of Labor and Workforce
Development (DLWD) and the Division of
Criminal Justice.

According
to Director McKoy, the Division of Criminal
Justice obtained separate State Grand
Jury indictments charging three people
with theft by deception and unsworn falsification
to authorities for bilking the New Jersey
UI benefits program out of more than $119,700.

"The
Division of Criminal Justice and the Department
of Labor and Workforce Development have
established investigative protocols which
target deliberate and blatant attempts
by individuals who attempt to steal thousands
of dollars from the state unemployment
fund," said Criminal Justice Director
McKoy. “Make no mistake, we intend
to investigate, prosecute, recoup and
return dollars stolen from our unemployment
compensation programs."

"The
Department of Labor and Workforce Development
uses a variety of methods to track those
who would abuse the system and fraudulently
obtain benefits," said Unemployment
Insurance Director David Socolow. "These
cases were first identified by DLWD investigators
by cross-matching employer-submitted wage
information against UI benefit payments;
pursuing leads from employer protests
of UI benefit charges; surveying employer
payroll records; and responding to alerts
from the staff of our local claims offices."

A
Nov. 17 State Grand Jury indictment charged
Brian Rambough, 48, Westwood Court, Egg
Harbor Township, Atlantic County, with
two counts of theft by deception and one
count of unsworn falsification to authorities.
It is charged that, after filing two separate
UI Benefits claims - one in November 1999
and the other in November 2000, Rambough
failed to notify DLWD that he was earning
wages. An investigation by the Division
of Criminal Justice determined that during
the first claim, Rambough worked as a
security guard for the Atlantic City Board
of Education and for Pinkerton Security,
located in Marlton, Burlington County.
The investigation further revealed that,
during the second claim, he again worked
for more than six months for the Atlantic
City Board of Education. As a result of
these jobs, Rambough collected more than
$11,700 in UI benefits to which he was
not entitled.

A second indictment charged Terri Colburn,
44, Durling Way, Hillsborough, Somerset
County, with three counts of theft by
deception and one count of unsworn falsification
for stealing more than $27,100 in UI benefits.
The indictment alleges that Colburn filed
three UI benefit claims between March
2000 and August 2002. An investigation
by the Division of Criminal Justice determined
that, while she was collecting on the
claims, Colburn worked for several different
employers based throughout the United
States, including Fort Lauderdale, FL
and St. Louis, MO.

A
third indictment filed by the Division
of Criminal Justice charged Dane Bilardo,
49, Nejecho Drive, Brick, Ocean County,
with two counts of theft by deception
and one count of unsworn falsification.
According to the indictment, that while
collecting on UI benefits claims that
he submitted in January of 2000 and 2001,
Bilardo worked for more than 20 employers
throughout New Jersey and parts of Pennsylvania.
An investigation by the Division of Criminal
Justice determined that by not informing
DLWD of his employment, Bilardo bilked
more than $$11,100 from the state program.

An
additional Nov. 17 State Grand Jury indictment
charged Robert Gary, 38, formerly of Asbury
Park, Monmouth County, with two counts
of theft by deception and one count of
unsworn falsification to authorities for
stealing more than $10,400 in UI benefits.
Gary filed a claim for UI benefits in
March 2000 and another one in May 2001.
It is charged that while collecting on
both claims, Gary worked as a laborer
at Crossing Construction Co., Inc. in
Washington Crossing, PA.

The
Division of Criminal Justice - Major Financial
Crimes recently obtained additional State
Grand Jury indictments charging the following
defendants with theft by deception and
unsworn falsification to authorities:

State
v. Anthony J. Hughes,
50, Somerset Street, New Brunswick,
Middlesex County. Charged with collecting
more than $21,000 in UI benefits to
which he was not entitled.

Barry G. Leeks,
42, Lombardy Place, Maplewood, Essex
County. Charged with stealing more than
$20,000 in UI benefits by not reporting
to the DLWD that he was employed while
collecting on three claims.

Luis Guzman,
41, Caralee Boulevard, Orlando, FL.
Charged with failing to report to the
DLWD that he was employed by four employers
while collecting on a UI benefits claim,
subsequently receiving more than $12,000
in UI benefits to which he was not entitled.

State
v. Martin J. Hornlein, 31,
Main Street, Spotswood, Middlesex County.
An investigation by the Division of
Criminal Justice determined Hornlein
was employed while collecting on three
UI benefits claims and therefore was
paid more than $9,000 in UI benefits
to which he was not entitled.

Theft
by deception is a third-degree crime which
carries a maximum penalty of up to five
years in state prison and a fine of up
to $15,000, while unsworn falsification
to authorities is a fourth-degree crime
which calls for up to 18 months in state
prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

A
copy of this release and the related indictments
can be found at www.njdcj.org.

The
indictments are merely accusations. The
defendants are presumed innocent until
proven guilty in a court of law.